Actually that's a good point, and one that -- ahem -- does not only apply to our particular flavor of Lutheranism. Fact of the matter is, most of Marty's kids, especially if we're cradle Lutherans, have been marinated in Lutheran theology for so long, and tend to talk amongst ourselves so often, that we can forget what a radical and liberating concept sola gratia, sola fides can be, especially in the larger context of American Christianity.
So...you want justification? You got justification. This is from Baptized, We Live: Lutheranism As a Way of Life" by Daniel Erlander, one of the books I'd put on my short list of recommendations for someone exploring Lutheran Christianity:
We are justified by grace through faith.
Justified: We celebrate God's action, his declaration that, because of Christ, all are accepted into the covenant people. All are invited -- the weak, the oppressed, the depressed, the sinners, the alienated and the outcasts. God calls infants, children, adults and the elderly. He invites all races, nations, tribes and classes. No one is excluded. God calls everyone into the family of the new order. This is God's righteousness, his justice. This is JUSTIFICATION!
By Grace: The covenant people into which we are invited is the church -- the ECCLESIA [Greek for "called out ones"]. The church lives as the family which has received the gift of the new age -- forgiveness, reconciliation, liberation -- and has been commissioned to proclaim the new age in word and deed. We, the church, do not deserve to be this covenant people. Our inclusion is a gift of God. This is GRACE!
Through Faith: Faith is the trusting, obedient YES of the heart which enables us to enter and live in the covenant community, the family in which we receive and share the gifts of the kingdom -- forgiveness and reconciliation. We stand in awe and wonder, realizing that even our trusting in God is entirely the work of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, even our faith is a gift. (p. 27)
This is good news indeed! So let's pass it on...and on and on and on.
7 comments:
Maybe Lutherans have so imbibed the message that we're justified by grace alone through faith alone that it's a part of who we are and we don't mention it in every other sentence. I'm not saying that's a good thing. We ought to be spreading that message far and wide.
Actually, it's a message we've imbibed so thouroughly that we can make jokes about it like this one:
"A good Lutheran man is dying; his pastor comes to visit him and asks him if he is ready to depart. Just so the pastor will know that he's a good Lutheran and ready to die, he says to the pastor, 'Pastor, you can rest assured that I never did a good work in my life.'"
Hmmm. Interesting joke. It's actually quite similar to the words of one of the framers of the Formula of Concord and one of the mainstays of Lutheran Orthodoxy back in the day. I forget his name right off-hand but that's a joke with some real history behind it.
Tom, your joke reminds me of Heinrich Heine, the German author/satirist who was also a Lutheran PK (preacher's kid). At one point in his adult life he became seriously ill and was not expected to live; as the family gathered around his bedside, he was admonished that he'd better use his remaining hours to get right with God...to which Heine replied, "It's my job to keep sinning, and it's God's job to keep forgiving me." At least I hope he was joking.
But I wonder if we Lutherans don't need to say "justification by grace through faith" just as long as it informs our theology and, especially, our preaching, teaching, and mission.
The justification language sounds to parochial, even if the message isn't.
Just my $0.02
kgp
I think Kevin's right.
The ironic thing is that I would have considered that my two previous posts before the one that was complained about as "Liberation Theology nonsense" were both specifically about justification by faith alone through grace alone. But I didn't use the words.
Well, and I we discuss grace over here every once in awhile too.;-)
Oh, well...at least s/he didn't use an asterisk instead of an L...
Too often, "Justification by faith" turns into "Buy Brandname-Jesus God! Whiter whites! Brighter brights! And it's the ONLY WAY to avoid Hell!"
IMHO, that ain't it AT ALL.
Our justification is by God's freely/universally-given GRACE alone . . . faith is nothing more than saying "Thank you!" to the Giver, for the Gift (a gift given regardless: just as Jesus healed the 9 blind men who didn't come back to thank him).
. . . but unfortunately, it's more important---to too many Christians---to see God's Grace-through-Christ as Our Personal Property (which the heathen don't get, unless they STOP being heathen, and we deign to permit them among us, the Elect {Psst! And run up our church-growth numbers! Whoopie!})
If only Christians---starting w/ me---would get out of the way of Christ. :-/
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